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| Earning This |
June 05, 2001 |
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Dear Friends,
At dawn on June 6, 1944, the liberation of a continent began on a forty mile stretch of beach on the coast of Normandy.
Almost two years ago now, I started trying to find and thank New Mexico`s veterans of `Operation Overlord` with an American Edition of a Commemorative medal called the Jubillee Medal of Liberty.
At first, we thought it would be a one time thing. But this simple acknowledgement struck a chord with people and folks kept calling the office to tell me of someone else they know -- a grandpa, a neighbor, a brother, a friend from the VFW.
I`ve given the medal to a man in hospice care who wanted to have it for his son when he was gone, and to a frail man in a wheel chair who was a fireman aboard one of the navy ships that brought the liberators in. I`ve given it to elderly sisters who carried a faded photograph of a brother who did not return, and to an army nurse who served in a Normandy field hospital. And to glider pilots and first sergeants and medics... and lots of privates who first tasted combat on the beaches and hedgerows of Normandy.
It`s become a very personal way to say thank you to a generation that helped liberate a continent and then came home to build the American century.
Monday night, we had a cermony at the United Artists Theater for about 35 Normandy Veterans. Then, there was a special screening of "Pearl Harbor" for the honorees and their families.
In Steven Spielberg`s film about D-Day, "Saving Private Ryan", Ryan is saved at tremendous cost. The character played by Tom Hanks dies in the effort. Before he dies, Hanks says to Ryan, "Earn this."
Earn this. At the end of the film, a much older Private Ryan returns to the cemetary overlooking Omaha Beach. He turns to his aging wife and asks, "Did I live a good life?" And he goes to the white cross marking the grave of the Captain played by Hanks and asks, "Did I earn it?"
It is for the survivors and for those of us in the generations that follow to take advantage of the gifts of life and liberty we have been given, to earn what was purchased at tremendous sacrifice.
The men we honored at the theater on Monday night were just boys fifty seven summers ago. They represent the best of who we are as Americans: a selfless, freedom-loving, faithful, courageous people. They have lived good lives. It was an honor to thank them for their service and their sacrifice.
Wish you were here,
Heather |
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